Tamara Murphy of Brasa is the most courageous chef in town. Like many restaurateurs, she wants to feel more connected to the sources of her raw materials. Like her Belltown colleague Chris Keff of Flying Fish, she's particularly impressed by the sustainable farming practices at Whistling Train Farm, the family farm in Auburn that supplies the suckling pigs for Brasa's signature dish, roast pig with chorizo and clams.

Murphy's passion goes well beyond the fashionable quest for heirloom vegetables. Back in January, she starts a blog, "The Life of a Pig," that follows a litter of piglets from birth to slaughter to kitchen to table. Weekly entries chronicle their lives as they romp, feed and grow.

As they approach 100 lbs, it's time for their trip to an approved slaughterhouse in Puyallup. Murphy follows, watches, snaps photos (which she doesn't publish), pokes their livers. An hour later, the piglets are in her walk-in cooler at Brasa. Six nights later, 130 guests sit down to a banquet celebrating the piglets' lives.

Nothing is wasted. Trimmings, fat, heart, liver, kidney and tongue go into an "everything pig p‰te." The shoulders, heads, trotters and hocks become a traditional posole. Loins are grilled, riblets smoked. Cracklings from the fatty skin accompany the salad course. Pork belly becomes bacon brittle, served with dessert.

There's even a perfect wine, a pinot noir from Oregon's EIEIO and Co. called, would you believe it, Life of a Pig, at $35. Murphy even autographs the bottles.

Yellow Polka-Dot Martini
The martinis already come in a bewildering array of colors and flavors at Tini Bigs, and they're adding even more, with new, "healthful" ingredients. As if gin and vodka aren't healthy enough on their own! Owner Keith Robbins and GM Patrick Haight, authors of a comprehensive book of martini recipes, developed five newcomers containing, variously, aloe, pomegranate, ginger, green tea, peppers and chocolate. Even some ZipFizz powdered energy drink.

Mixed results. The Aloe Tini smelled like hand lotion, the pomegranate concoction (Zip Tini) reminded me of grape KoolAid. The one based on green tea (the Zen) tasted medicinal, perhaps from the overly sweet Yazi Ginger Vodka. Best combo was originally called the Vulcan, though the name didn't final cut. It's been renamed the Burning Man Tini, may Larry Harvey forgive them. Starts with an infused pepper vodka called Mazama, a gold-medal spirit from the artisanal Bend Distillery. Add some Godiva liqueur. Rim the glass with cayenne-spiked cocoa powder. Float some sweetened cream and a Thai chili pepper on top, and voila! the perfect dessert.

Celebrating Seattle's black chefs
New York Times, with annoying and typical provincialism, claims that black chefs are "struggling." Not so in Seattle, where a culinary star like Daisley Gordon shines at Campagne. More to the point, a baker's dozen black chefs gathered to present "Food As Art," a celebration of African-American culinary expertise, annual fundraiser for the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas. Event co-chair Dana Frank admits being puzzled by the NY Times article. Didn't hurt ticket sales though. Capacity crowd of 350. Several of the chefs tend Belltown kitchens: Wayne Johnson at Andaluca, Donna Moodie at Marjorie's, Richard Dwyer at Casuelita's.

Gordon shakes his head at the implications of racism in the New York piece. "Coming from Jamaica, all I ever saw were possibilities," he says.

Squawk and Awe
Me, when I want eggs, I buy them at Trader Joe's for 99 cents a dozen. When landscape designer Jennifer Carlson wants eggs, she reaches into her chicken coop. Not on some farm out in Snohomish County, either, but her backyard in Magnolia. City of Seattle lets you keep three hens on a typical, 5,000-square-foot residential lot; Carlson holds classes in chicken-coop building. Why raise poultry in the city? Aside from the obvious (fresh eggs) and the politically correct (recycling), there's this: chickens are funny. They bring a sense of humor to daily life.

No, you don't need a rooster. No, bird flu isn't a danger. Yes, chickens recycle kitchen waste. Can't see doing this on my balcony in Belltown, though, even though Carlson makes it sound inviting. Not necessarily cheaper, either; a dozen store-bought eggs a week is only 50 bucks a year, after all. But fresh eggs are sooo much tastier. "It's a lifestyle," Carlson says. Bet my neighbors wouldn't see the humor, though.

Deliverance
Sure, the pizza joint delivers. The corner deli might deliver, and you can sometimes persuade the neighborhood bistro to send over an idle waiter with a to-go order. Surprisingly, Seattle has only a couple of restaurant delivery companies, and they specialize in bringing dinner to your home.

But what about that staple of the American business day, the noontime meeting with a stack of box lunches delivered to the conference room? Familiar names like Gretchen's Shoe Box Express (part of Schwartz Brothers), Jackrabbit, Larry's. For local office workers, by-now familiar flavors. The barrier to entry in the catering biz is pretty low; anybody can slap together a sandwich. Now there's a newcomer, serving commercial customers exclusively, B2B Delivery (206-464-4222), whose original plan was simply to deliver Costco pastries and pizzas. Early customers wanted box lunches as well, but B2B didn't want to operate a kitchen or commissary. So owners Jeff Pollak and Martin Yamamoto set out to in search of the best deli sandwiches available. What they found was Big Mouth Catering in Bothell. Home run! Staff consensus at my condo: best box lunch sandwich evah!

B2B's business plan: high quality (Alki Bakery's coming aboard shortly), low prices (because they don't hold inventory) free delivery in downtown Seattle and Bellevue (in a couple of Hyundais), build repeat business. So get started and tell the boss to set it up, okay?

Seattle Not-Nice
"So how'd you feel about comping me two of em?" Two of the six mini-burgers the dude just scarfed down at Cascadia. Cuz all of a sudden he decides they're "inedible." This after his girlfriend clicked shut her cell and alerted the barkeep the guy was enroute and "starving." Now, before we go off the deep end, these are one dollar bar snacks, the mainstay of Cascadia's happy hour.

Barkeep demurs. "Let me know next time, I'll order them rare." Keeps his cool. Me, on the next stool, I'm in the dude's face. Comp two bucks worth of bar snacks? "You're an embarrassment to the neighborhood," I say.

"Ten seconds, I'm going to lose my patience," sez the dude. Nine, eight, seven. Not nice, not nice.

Tapas-Hopping in Spain
Quick trip to the Rioja wine country last month. Logrono's the capital, home to well over 100,000. Seems half of them are on the streets and in the bars this warm, moonless Friday night. At 9:30, we're on Calle Laurel for a quick drink at a tapas bar specializing in garlicky mushrooms stuffed with shrimp. The beret? A genuine Basque boina purchased hours earlier. The glazed expression? We've been up since dawn, working hard. Winery visits, elegant lunches, trade shows. That's the director of tourism of La Rioja province on my right, making sure we don't falter now that we're close to the finish line. Scorecard: Not including morning coffees, midday mineral waters, mouthwash or toothpaste, tasted an average of one new beverage every business hour during our time in Spain. Satisfying Riojas (reds mostly tempranillo, whites from viura), occasional sparkling cavas, the odd distilled rojo, many cervezas. Plus repeats, retastes and second helpings. Altogether, an excellent week.

Belltown Buffet
First Avenue teeming with news. Target date now sometime in May for the space formerly known as Axis, soon to become Amber. (The familiar profile of pony-tailed Angel Aguilar, Axis bar manager, moves to Kaspar's, the private-dining space on lower Queen Anne.)

... A couple of doors north, Umi Sake Lounge is taking over from Bada. Bada meant "sea" in Korean; Umi means "sea" in Japanese.

... Owners of Twist had the weird notion of putting the street-front bar behind frosted glass. Maybe drinkers don't care what's happening on First Ave, but the effect on the street side was deadly; it looked like Twist was literally turning its back to the 'hood. Belltown Housing and Land Use Subcommittee went into action, writing letter of complaint. Result: after a couple of weeks, frosting was removed, passersby and patrons now mutually gawking.

... Shallots back in business after fire. Delay due partly to remodeling, partly to need for new liquor license because bar moved from the back to the front of the house. Phad Thai as delectable as ever, especially with spicy chili-lime sauce. ... Spice trying to get traction with a $7.95 "express lunch buffet."

... Spitfire now open where one used to Sit and Spin. Decor is industrial chic, the better to show off the art. Jerry Everard from Rendez-Vous is one of the partners.

... P'tit Bistro's Laurent Baldini spending more time front-of-house now that his old pal Fabrice Penet arrived from Grenoble to help out in the kitchen. New item on weekends: a generous "Assiette Brunch" ($10.50) of eggs benedict, two kinds of meat or seafood, potatoes, grilled tomato and salad. ...

More tasting notes and culinary dispatches are at www.cornichon.org, Recently named one of the Internet's "Top Ten Food Blogs" by About.com..

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